The Bulls come back form 17 down to beat the Cavs. I don't know if it's Ben no longer being on the Bulls or my intense hatred for all things cavs, but my Bulls/Ben Gordon love has come back. Thabo Sefalosha is awesome defensively, and Noah played well.

Meaningless win, but good game for them.

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I think I got sucked into the same Cavs-are-winning-Bulls-will-go-down mode that the Cavs players seemed to be experiencing. They seemed to have the game in hand for about 44 minutes but somehow couldn't get it done at the end. Was a good game for the Bulls.

I've never liked Gordan, but he had a decent game last night, especially with only one turnover (though I remember more than that when he drove into traffic and couldn't find anything to do with the ball and ended up throwing it at a teammate's feet). The Bulls will find it rough going though if they are relying on Hughes getting 25 on 11-17 shooting. That won't happen again until Christmas.

Interesting that Hinrich played so badly and for only 20 minutes. Maybe he'll be the odd man out when Pax goes into trading mode this summer. I always assumed he was untouchable, but perhaps not after this season.

Nice game from Ben Wallace, looking very lively coming off the back spasms. Couple of nice moves around the basket, eight boards, three steals, three blocks.

When the Cavs made their big trade, I was a bit skeptical that it would help them in the playoffs this season, because it's tough to integrate so many new pieces in that short a time. They've also had a lot of injury problems--the report I read for last night's game said it was the first time since January that they've had all their rotation players healthy at the same time.

They also won't have as much time to get it together before facing a really tough playoff series this year. Last year, they played a team in the first round that had been destroyed by injuries (Wizards, with both Butler and Arenas out), and then they got the totally lackluster Nets in the second round. This year, whoever their first round opponent is (could be any of Washington, Toronto, or Philly) is likely to have everyone healthy, so they won't have it quite as easy in the first round as they did last year. And then, of course, they'll get the Celtics in the second round, which promises to be a little tougher than that series they had against the Nets last year...

Nice game from Ben Wallace, looking very lively coming off the back spasms. Couple of nice moves around the basket, eight boards, three steals, three blocks.

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Not disagreeing with you here.... but wow have the mighty fallen when you say 8 boards is a nice game for Ben... that used to be a normal half.

bad ending of a game by labron for the second game in a row... one game he fouls out, this one i guess there saying he had back spasms.... is this something new? hadn't heard him having these before? either way... look for him to be treated a bit more physical when he heads for the paint now.

I think I got sucked into the same Cavs-are-winning-Bulls-will-go-down mode that the Cavs players seemed to be experiencing. They seemed to have the game in hand for about 44 minutes but somehow couldn't get it done at the end. Was a good game for the Bulls.

I've never liked Gordan, but he had a decent game last night, especially with only one turnover (though I remember more than that when he drove into traffic and couldn't find anything to do with the ball and ended up throwing it at a teammate's feet). The Bulls will find it rough going though if they are relying on Hughes getting 25 on 11-17 shooting. That won't happen again until Christmas.

Interesting that Hinrich played so badly and for only 20 minutes. Maybe he'll be the odd man out when Pax goes into trading mode this summer. I always assumed he was untouchable, but perhaps not after this season.

Nice game from Ben Wallace, looking very lively coming off the back spasms. Couple of nice moves around the basket, eight boards, three steals, three blocks.

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There's a few articles in the CHI paper saying as much

Also, apparently LB has contacted Paxson through a middle man saying he would LOVE the job. I think if anyone he can turn that team around. They lack mental toughness and he could possibly fix that.

Larry Hughes could go two ways under him. Either he becomes fantastic (he really is a good passer when he actually passes LOL), or meets the end of the bench.

Carlisle, and Calipari (sp?) are the two other names being thrown around.

Not disagreeing with you here.... but wow have the mighty fallen when you say 8 boards is a nice game for Ben... that used to be a normal half.

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He's still not right although i agree the days of his monster performances are going to be few and far between. He had that dunk towards the end of the game that would have put CLE up 4 ? i think and swung momentum, and got rejected . . . by the rim. It would have been funny had it not been so sad. To say he's had a tough time since he left here would be an understatement.

I doubt if Tyrus Thomas or Noah would be around under LB. Gordon, Deng and Hinrich he can deal with, IMO.

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I actually think LB would help Thomas, Noah, Deng, and Hinrich. Gordon though will drive him nuts. The NBA player that Gordan can guard hasn't been made yet, and not guarding causes Larry's head to explode.

This is a real request. Will someone please explain Denver to me? What is the problem over there? Is Karl a lousy coach? How is it that these guys can't defend seemingly anyone? I don't understand enough about defense to get it. I mean don't they have a defense coach? Players go straight to the basket while they all stand there next to their man. It drives me insane.

The Nuggets have been the only other team besides my beloved Pistons that I have followed closely, almost every game. I really like this team. (Well, mostly A.I. is what drew me in).The talent level. Dynamic. Seems like a lot of nice pieces on the bench. But...somehow...

They lost to the Sonics in double overtime tonight. I went to watch them in Seattle. I mean most of the game the Sonics were in the lead!

Anyway, if anyone can explain to me in this thread why Denver is so...ineffectual I'd really appreciate it. On paper and in the way the players are it just seems like they should be able to be more successful with that talent level. They get assists, they move the ball, they have shooters...is it just the defense? In which case what does George Karl do for them? They seem to lack...mental toughness and discipline.

I'm really burned up. I'm watching NBATV replay of this game right now and all this sloppiness with so much at stake. The playoffs at stake and this.....inexplicable melting down even after Sacramento game. (Also they probably shouldn't have run up that 162 pt game against the Sonics previously, creating an unnecessary Payback scenario).

Also I hate to see A.I. suffer. It doesn't look like they'll make the playoffs, and really even if they do they'll be out in the first round playing whoever is the 1 Seed. But I need...answers
from the Pf.com basketball brain trust.What gives with this group?

Defense is about Attitude and work.... and though i don't watch there games much whenever i look at there stats you see anthony has a down right terrible plus minus.... the last game against sac stood out like a light to me he scores 47 points but was -6 in 38 mins... AI played almost 43 mins but was plus 6... so looks like this team is really lost when he's off the court.

Anthony is just not that great of a player.... he is a incredible scorer but to bad baketball has two ends of the court. They have a great defender in camby too....

If we drafted him I'm pretty sure we wouldn't have won our title in 04 and probably wouldn't have been the elite team we have been the last few years.....

There is no way in this lifetime that the Wiz would beat Boston in a 7 game series...........

You don`t really believe that do you??

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I don't think they'd beat them, but i do think they can take it to at least 6 (possibly 7). I really don't have faith in the Cavs putting up much of a fight, but who knows they have been playing better (and they do have Lebron).

There is no way in this lifetime that the Wiz would beat Boston in a 7 game series...........

You don`t really believe that do you??

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Never say Never....so far the Wiz have taken 3 out of 4 from those Celtics this season and agent zero was missing from the first two wins. Tonight I believe the wiz took over at the end of 1st qtr and never looked back even with Allen and Pierce playing over 36 mins and KG 30...and all three were in there down the stretch trying to pull out the victory. AS LPgirl indicated they could have the C's number. Nobody thought the 4-0 season series edge the Warriors had over the #1 seeded Mavs meant anything either until the after the Cuban took the team fishing after the first round.

The problem is even if the wiz beat the Cavs, they may still be suffering fro a tough series and not be physically able to beat the Celtics, but we can hope and speculate

Never say Never....so far the Wiz have taken 3 out of 4 from those Celtics this season and agent zero was missing from the first two wins. Tonight I believe the wiz took over at the end of 1st qtr and never looked back even with Allen and Pierce playing over 36 mins and KG 30...and all three were in there down the stretch trying to pull out the victory. AS LPgirl indicated they could have the C's number. Nobody thought the 4-0 season series edge the Warriors had over the #1 seeded Mavs meant anything either until the after the Cuban took the team fishing after the first round.

The problem is even if the wiz beat the Cavs, they may still be suffering fro a tough series and not be physically able to beat the Celtics, but we can hope and speculate

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Dre, just like you see things that we don`t in the LA scene, I am here in DC and kind of have a feel for this team here.

I must admit, they look better this year than in the past, especially Haywood, the guy is playing great, however, beating someone, I don`t care how many times in the regular season doesn`t mean jack.

The comparison between the Mavs and the Warriors, well we all know the Mavs custom of needing the "Heimlich Manuever" in the post season anyway.

Didn`t The Bulls beat us like 3 out of 4 one year, in the regular season and the Pistons took them out in the playoffs?

The Wizards will not make it out of the first round of the playoffs. You can write that on the front page, back page or wherever!!

Dre, just like you see things that we don`t in the LA scene, I am here in DC and kind of have a feel for this team here.

I must admit, they look better this year than in the past, especially Haywood, the guy is playing great, however, beating someone, I don`t care how many times in the regular season doesn`t mean jack.

The comparison between the Mavs and the Warriors, well we all know the Mavs custom of needing the "Heimlich Manuever" in the post season anyway.

Didn`t The Bulls beat us like 3 out of 4 one year, in the regular season and the Pistons took them out in the playoffs?

The Wizards will not make it out of the first round of the playoffs. You can write that on the front page, back page or wherever!!

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Uh oh, I feel a challengedem fightin words..The Wiz making it out of the first round may possibly depend on the back spasms of LaBron and Big Ben...if those two are at 50% then even the Miami D-leagers might beat them...now if they slip to sixth place then you are right, I don't think they get pass Shard, Superhoward and the Turk....